On this trip we journeyed to the land of Lincoln. Historian Ed Bearss traced the humble beginnings of Lincoln’s life from his birthplace to Lincoln’s childhood home in Indiana. We learned how events in Kentucky and Indiana helped mold a young boy into the man who became the nation’s sixteenth President. In Illinois, we visited the New Salem State Historic Site that has preserved the village where Lincoln resided for six years before he moved to Springfield. We toured Beardstown Courthouse where Lincoln practiced law, and saw the Old State Capitol in Vandalia where Lincoln began his political career. The tour concluded in Springfield, where we visited Lincoln’s home and law offices, the Old State Capital, the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and Lincoln’s tomb.

THIS WAS OUR ITINERARY....

June 4, Saturday

Join staff and fellow travelers at tonight’s welcome dinner.

Overnight at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel, Louisville, KY. (R,D)

June 5, Sunday

We’ll begin the day at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site where we’ll see the first memorial built to honor Lincoln. The memorial and its formal landscape enshrines Lincoln’s birth site.

We’ll visit Knob Creek Farm, home to Lincoln during his formative years. Finish the day at the Lincoln Homestead State Park where we’ll see the Berry House, Lincoln’s mother’s home and a replica of his father’s 1782 cabin.

O/N Hilton Seelbach Hotel, Louisville, KY (B,L)

June 6, Monday

Today we’ll tour the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Indiana that preserves the farm site where Abraham Lincoln lived from 7 to 21 years of age. In Vandalia we’ll tour the Old State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln served in the House of Representatives. The Vandalia State House, the fourth Illinois statehouse and is the oldest surviving capitol building in the state.

O/N Hampton Inn, Effingham, IL (B,L,D)

June 7, Tuesday

Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site preserves the site of the 1840s farm of Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln, father and stepmother of our 16th president. Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer living in Springfield by the time his parents moved here in 1837, but he did visit them periodically.

In Charleston we’ll tour the Lincoln Douglas Debate Museum.At the Dr. Hiram Rutherford House in Oakland, we’ll meet re-enactors who will tell us about Lincoln’s and Rutherford’s roles in the Matson Slave Trial of 1847.

O/N Hilton Hotel, Springfield, IL (B,L,D)

June 8, Wednesday

Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site is a reconstruction of the village where Abraham Lincoln spent his early adulthood. During the six years Lincoln spent in New Salem he clerked in a store, enlisted in the Black Hawk War, served as postmaster and deputy surveyor, and was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1834 and 1836.

Continue to The Old Lincoln Courtroom & Museum in Beardstown, where Lincoln defended “Duff” Armstrong in the famous Almanac Trial. This the only courtroom where Lincoln practiced that is still used as a courtroom to this day.

O/N Hilton Hotel, Springfield, IL (B,L)

June 9, Thursday

Today we’ll tour sites in Springfield including the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. He purchased the house in 1844 and it was the only home Lincoln ever owned. On a tour of the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices we’ll learn about Lincoln’s legal career and life on the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

We’ll tour the Old State Capitol where Lincoln served during his last term in the Illinois House of Representatives and delivered his famous 1858 “House Divided” speech in Representatives Hall. O/N Hilton Hotel, Springfield, IL (B,L)

June 10, Friday

We’ll spend the morning at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Following lunch, we’ll visit the railroad depot where Lincoln started his inaugural journey on February 11, 1861, and where he made his famous Farewell Address.

This afternoon, we’ll pay our respects at the Lincoln Tomb. Dedicated in 1874, the tomb is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary, and three of their four sons, Edward, William, and Thomas.Toast our journey at tonight’s farewell dinner. O/N Hilton Hotel, Springfield, IL (B,D)

June 11, Saturday

Individual departures. (B) (NOTE: You may either fly out of Springfield, IL or take the 5+ hour bus ride back to Louisville, KY. Estimated arrival time in Louisville is 3:00 pm EST.)

To enroll on this tour, print & complete the attached registration form and mail it with a $200 per person deposit check to: South Mountain Expeditions, P.O. Box 204, Keedysville, MD, 21756. Or call us at (301) 988-1852 or toll free at 1 (866) 914-1862. We accept VISA, Mastercard and American Express.